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Article
Publication date: 7 June 2011

Terrie Lynn Thompson

This paper seeks to explore how workers engage in informal online communities for work‐learning. Although online communities may facilitate learning and knowledge creation, much…

1847

Abstract

Purpose

This paper seeks to explore how workers engage in informal online communities for work‐learning. Although online communities may facilitate learning and knowledge creation, much of the literature is situated in formal online courses, suggesting a need to better understand the nuances of more informal learning spaces online.

Design/methodology/approach

Semi‐structured interviews were conducted with 11 own‐account self‐employed workers (contractors and consultants who do not have staff).

Findings

Participants engaged in ways that fit with expectations, leveraged fluidity, played with boundaries, and meshed with work. These workers attempted to (re)configure online spaces to create the degree of connection and learning needed, although not always successfully. This study explores how participants participated in much less pedagogically inscribed spaces and foregrounds several issues related to online engagement: managing exposure, force‐feeding community, and navigating multi‐purpose spaces.

Research limitations/implications

There are indications that these workers are moving toward more networked architectures of online participation. How the notion of online community continues to evolve warrants further research.

Practical implications

Although turning to an online community is sometimes the only viable learning option, online presence brings challenges to be addressed by practitioners and policy makers, including attending to the nature of relationships in and between different cyberspaces, information and media literacies required, and the implications of such extensive connectivity between people and their web‐technologies.

Originality/value

By exploring how adults reach out to others in “informal” online communities for learning purposes, this paper encourages researchers, practitioners, policy makers, and citizens to consider tensions and questions associated with cyberspace collectives.

Details

Information Technology & People, vol. 24 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0959-3845

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 10 August 2010

Terrie Lynn Thompson

In order to explore how informal pedagogical moments are being renegotiated by the technology woven into people's lives, this paper aims to focus on online communities as sites of…

Abstract

Purpose

In order to explore how informal pedagogical moments are being renegotiated by the technology woven into people's lives, this paper aims to focus on online communities as sites of learning; more specifically, the informal work‐related learning practices of self‐employed workers in these cyberspaces.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper draws on the notion of legitimate peripheral participation (LPP) from situated learning theory in order to examine the development of work‐learning practices online. Semi‐structured interviews were conducted with own‐account self‐employed workers (contractors and consultants who do not have staff) about their engagement in online communities for work learning.

Findings

Findings indicate that these self‐employed workers were learning work practices, the viability of doing particular work, how to participate in online communities for work learning, and how to participate in fluid knowledges. The significance of developing a work‐learning practice is emphasized, as is the impact of multiple and peripheral positionings across on‐ and offline spaces.

Research limitations/implications

Web technologies and shifting configurations of online collectives shake up notions of expertise, beliefs about who is able to produce, and consume information, and where one locates themselves, in order to build work‐learning practices. Multiple positioning across several online communities, and ways of participating that are peripheral, partial and part‐time warrant further examination.

Originality/value

The value of this paper is its exploration of how self‐employed workers develop an online work‐learning practice and the tensions that these practices bring. The paper also attempts to discuss the utility of LPP for contemporary learning practices.

Details

Journal of Workplace Learning, vol. 22 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1366-5626

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 22 February 2022

Robbert Hesen, Arjen E.J. Wals and Rebekah L. Tauritz

This study aims to demonstrate which course elements were responsible for community building, fostering subjectification and learning for being in an online course on…

2425

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to demonstrate which course elements were responsible for community building, fostering subjectification and learning for being in an online course on environmental and sustainability education (ESE) during the COVID-19 pandemic and physical distancing.

Design/methodology/approach

The study investigates a graduate-level course on Environmental Education for Sustainable Living that due to COVID-19 had to be taught mainly online. A retrospective analysis was conducted when the facilitators reflected on why the course, against expectations, appeared to have affected so many students in such a meaningful and profound way as shown by their personal reflections and the course evaluation. Methodologically, this study can be described as explorative and interpretative, although it was complemented by a standardised empirical analytical end-of course evaluation.

Findings

Within the context of this study, sense of community is linked to and facilitated by the online learning environment and the educators’ and students’ roles throughout the course. This study found that interaction and inclusion can be augmented by a hybrid educational design and supported by the mutual efforts of educators and students. Reflective tasks and discussions most prominently evoked subjectification. The encouragement of students to see themselves as central subjects and the inclusion of creative tasks supported both personal exploration and sense of community.

Originality/value

This study provides educational institutions teaching online with valuable information regarding course elements that foster subjectification and create a sense of community. This is particularly of interest for the design of online ESE emphasising learning for being and more relational approaches towards teaching and learning.

Details

International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, vol. 23 no. 8
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1467-6370

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 30 November 2005

Chadia Abras, Ant Ozok and Jenny Preece

E‐learning is becoming a major component in academia today. Therefore, the success of e‐learning online communities is crucial in order to ensure their permanency and…

Abstract

E‐learning is becoming a major component in academia today. Therefore, the success of e‐learning online communities is crucial in order to ensure their permanency and effectiveness. There is a need for formalized guidelines in e‐learning that instruct the designer (course instructor) on how to design, maintain, and manage a course. Some research has been done on the subject, but none proposes formalized guidelines, and none draws the results from the users’ perspectives. The users, students in this case, should be at the heart of the design and their thoughts, wishes, and needs should be implemented in the user‐centered design. In this study, through an iterative testing approach, the researchers formalized and validated a set of design heuristics that instruct an online educator on how to design, manage, deliver, and nurture an e‐Learning online community.

Details

Interactive Technology and Smart Education, vol. 2 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1741-5659

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 22 August 2022

Byron A. Brown

The literature on non-traditional classroom environments claims that the changed emphasis in higher education teaching from the lecturer to students has intensified the global…

Abstract

The literature on non-traditional classroom environments claims that the changed emphasis in higher education teaching from the lecturer to students has intensified the global focus on student-centred learning, prompting colleges and universities globally to introspect, re-examine, and re-structure their pedagogical approaches in an attempt to align with national educational policies, and to position themselves favourably with potential students in an increasingly competitive higher education environment. This is an environment that now relies heavily on digital learning technologies, which has provoked scholars such as Heick (2012) to perceive the change to the virtual as one that makes higher education institutions accessible from anywhere – in the cloud, at home, in the workplace, or restaurant. The COVID-19 crisis has reinforced the need for this flexibility. These forces have put universities and colleges under pressure to implement new teaching approaches in non-traditional classroom settings that are appropriate for, and responsive to, the COVID-19 crisis and students in terms of learning and social support. This chapter identified and appraised key teaching approaches. It is evident that there are three key teaching approaches that higher education institutions have adopted for delivering learning in an emergency and in a student-centred fashion. The three approaches, which include the time and place dispersion, transactional distance, and collaborative learning approaches, embrace social support because they are grounded in social constructivism. Academics need to be fully committed to the role of social support giving – that is, emotional, instrumental, informational, and appraisal support – in order to foster student wellbeing and cognitive development as students learn together but apart in non-traditional classrooms. The hurried manner in which teaching and learning practices in many higher education institutions have been moved to the online format has led academics to violate many key principles of the approaches they have adopted. And this situation is borne out in the case study discussed in Chapter 8 of this volume. A review of current remote teaching and learning practices is required if academics are to embrace the full principles of the approaches that are appropriate for teaching and learning in non-traditional classroom contexts.

Details

The Emerald Handbook of Higher Education in a Post-Covid World: New Approaches and Technologies for Teaching and Learning
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-80382-193-1

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 22 November 2018

Kathy Bishop, Catherine Etmanski and M. Beth Page

In this chapter, we, the authors Bishop, Etmanski and Page, argue for the need to disrupt the traditional notion of faculty solely as expert. We redefine the online faculty role…

Abstract

In this chapter, we, the authors Bishop, Etmanski and Page, argue for the need to disrupt the traditional notion of faculty solely as expert. We redefine the online faculty role to be that of a facilitator who creates the space for students to engage with both content and other students in the class. We discuss the adult learning principles behind our practices and our attention to building community. To illustrate what our online teaching work looks like in practice, we begin by providing a creative script on what online learning could look like. We then speak to utilising the specific strategies of online forums, behind the scenes outreach, synchronous meetings and assignments to create rich engagement in the online environment for higher education and learning.

We place a strong emphasis on building community among our students from the start of course and throughout. Recognising that people respond differently to different scenarios and have different learning preferences, we seek to offer a diverse range of options for experiencing community, with the intention of offering the possibility of belonging for everyone. The intention to create space for engagement in online learning has challenged us to continually ask ourselves how we can adapt or create new activities and experiences for the online learning environment, so as to enhance engagement.

Details

The Disruptive Power of Online Education
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78754-326-3

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 17 October 2022

Maryam Husain Almahdi, Ghadah Al Murshidi and Osama Al-Mahdi

This paper investigates the social online learning experiences of teacher trainees during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study's model gauges the relationships between social…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper investigates the social online learning experiences of teacher trainees during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study's model gauges the relationships between social presence, sense of community, and collaborative learning in online work-based learning environments.

Design/methodology/approach

This study uses a cross-sectional design, specifically an online questionnaire, to collect data from teacher-trainees in different years of their university programs.

Findings

The findings indicate significant and positive relationships between social presence and both sense of community and collaborative learning, and between collaborative learning and sense of community in a work-based online learning environment. Moreover, collaborative learning was found to mediate the relationship between social presence and sense of community in the study's model.

Research limitations/implications

The use of questionnaires to collect self-reported data from a mostly female undergraduate sample is expected to affect the generalizability of the results. Experiments or observation methods and a wider sample of participants can be used in future research to build on the findings of this study.

Practical implications

The authors recommend that educators play an active role in improving the students' online social learning experiences, especially their social presence and collaborative learning. By using different interactive methods (e.g. encouraging students to ask questions, express emotions, share resources, and reflect on their learning in a group), educators can help students achieve a sense of community and, hence, realize the many beneficial outcomes tied to community creation in online learning environments.

Originality/value

The study contributes to knowledge by highlighting students' social experiences while learning online, a usually overlooked area of study. These insights are especially important in a time when online learning has become a necessity rather than a choice and when students are in dire need of social support and community. Researching the online social learning experiences of teacher-trainees lends additional value to the study, as it is necessary for future teachers to experience and master this type of learning during their pre-service training so they can apply it with higher levels of confidence and efficacy in their future classrooms.

Details

Higher Education, Skills and Work-Based Learning, vol. 13 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2042-3896

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 31 August 2021

Tessa Withorn, Jillian Eslami, Hannah Lee, Maggie Clarke, Carolyn Caffrey, Cristina Springfield, Dana Ospina, Anthony Andora, Amalia Castañeda, Alexandra Mitchell, Joanna Messer Kimmitt, Wendolyn Vermeer and Aric Haas

This paper presents recently published resources on library instruction and information literacy, providing an introductory overview and a selected annotated bibliography of…

5253

Abstract

Purpose

This paper presents recently published resources on library instruction and information literacy, providing an introductory overview and a selected annotated bibliography of publications covering various library types, study populations and research contexts.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper introduces and annotates English-language periodical articles, monographs, dissertations, reports and other materials on library instruction and information literacy published in 2020.

Findings

The paper provides a brief description of all 440 sources and highlights sources that contain unique or significant scholarly contributions.

Originality/value

The information may be used by librarians, researchers and anyone interested in a quick and comprehensive reference to literature on library instruction and information literacy.

Details

Reference Services Review, vol. 49 no. 3/4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0090-7324

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 10 January 2022

Putra Endi Catyanadika and Jay Rajasekera

The absence of physical interactions in online learning environment brings psychological influences on learning participants in interacting and sharing knowledge with others, such…

Abstract

Purpose

The absence of physical interactions in online learning environment brings psychological influences on learning participants in interacting and sharing knowledge with others, such as ignorance of other member’s presence and insecurity to share something in online environment. The purpose of this research was to examine the knowledge sharing behavior (KSB) by online learning community members in terms of their psychological safety (PS) and social presence (SP) perceptions. In addition, this research also identified the influence of PS to promote SP and the mediation impact of SP in the relationships between PS and KSB.

Design/methodology/approach

The data were gathered through self-administered questionnaire distributed to 133 online class members at a university in Indonesia where online learning has created a new learning experience. To represent key behavioral attributes, 12 items were used to represent PS, SP and KSB. The relationships among the variables were analyzed using the structural equation modelling method.

Findings

The result showed that PS positively influenced SP and KSB. SP also brought a positive impact on promoting KSB and fully mediated the relationship between PS and KSB.

Research limitations/implications

The result may not have fully captured the reflection of the influencing factors of KSB, as this research focused only on two psychological factors, namely, PS and SP. The research may be further enriched by including additional factors and expanding the data collection to include more online learning institutions.

Practical implications

The results implied the importance of PS and SP perception to promoting KSB in online learning environments. The results highlighted an important message to universities and schools to be more concerned on students’ feeling safe personally and students’ awareness of others’ presence to maximize knowledge sharing activities in online class environment.

Originality/value

This paper revealed the importance of PS and SP to promote KSB in the higher education online learning community. To the best of the researchers’ knowledge, this is the first study to link PS and SP to KSB and identify the importance of the mediation effect of SP on the relationship between PS and KSB specifically in higher education online learning environment.

Details

VINE Journal of Information and Knowledge Management Systems, vol. 52 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2059-5891

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 August 2004

Charalambos Vrasidas and Michalinos Zembylas

This paper discusses the lessons learned from applying a theoretical framework for the professional development of teachers. This framework draws three interrelated theoretical…

2607

Abstract

This paper discusses the lessons learned from applying a theoretical framework for the professional development of teachers. This framework draws three interrelated theoretical areas: constructivism, situated and distributed cognition, and communities of practice. We first present the theoretical ideas on which this framework is based and discuss two projects that were developed following the framework. We then discuss the lessons learned and present the implications for the design of online professional development. The values of commitment, innovation, assessment, evaluation, communication, and interaction that underpins successful online professional development projects are highlighted. It is argued that using technology by itself does not support professional development; however, using technology in ways that are consistent with constructivist learning, and recognizing that online professional communities of practice can contribute to professional growth is something worthwhile to explore.

Details

Education + Training, vol. 46 no. 6/7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0040-0912

Keywords

1 – 10 of over 56000